Green Medicine (trailer)

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In early 2014 we got an email from Chile. The email told us about an ambitious project being planned by the Daya Foundation. Their dream was to win government support for a marijuana plantation that would provide medical cannabis oil for local patients in a district of Santiago.

At the time, it seemed like an impossible dream- cannabis was illegal in Chile and the importation of seeds was prohibited. However, Daya showed such commitment and passion for this project that we at Paradise Seeds said yes - make it happen and we will provide you with the seeds!

By the end of 2014, in the municipality of La Florida, Daya Foundation gardeners were cultivating Latin America's first legal medical cannabis plantation (read the background story here). Yes, sometimes dreams do come true!

Green Medicine - Medical Cannabis Documentary

On December 15th, Paradise Seeds TV releases Green Medicine: Chile's Medical Cannabis Revolution a new documentary from independent filmmaker Diego Estay (watch the trailer below). The film, in Spanish with English subtitles, tells the story of Daya Foundation's journey and how it is influencing changes in Chile.

To make this film, produced by Paradise Seeds, Diego's team followed the progress of the Daya project over a 6 month period, from seed to harvest. During that time, they conducted interviews with Chilean politicians, marijuana activists, scientists researching the medicinal qualities of the plant and the patients whose lives have been transformed by medical cannabis.

Set to steal the hearts of viewers is the story of 8 year old Emilia. Her mother discovered cannabis oil after researching for alternatives to pharmaceutical drugs and getting help and advice from organizations such as the Daya Foundation and Mama Cultiva.

The positive effects can be seen in the smiles that light up Emilia's face, and do much to counter the fixed arguments of some politicians in the film who continue to beat the drum with negative rhetoric.

As Claudio Venegas, editor of Cáñamo Chile magazine says on the film, "When you demonize cannabis, you also demonize users of cannabis, because it is much easier in this country to place all the blame on drugs instead of building decent schools, raising the minimum wage, building decent houses for people."

Changes in perception regarding medical cannabis

Talking about the film, Diego says: "Every shooting day had something special. All the characters that speak in the documentary had so much to give and teach.

What's important is this film captures some of the changes that have been happening in Chile in recent years. People are more empowered of what we believe is right and wrong, and as a result political policies are forced to change, to evolve.

A new generation of politicians are representing more 'forward' opinions in Congress and that has played an important role in opening doors to the people that are leading this cause, like Daya Foundation, Mama Cultiva and the many others that fight for medical uses.

I think this is linked to a global awakening in general. Marihuana just works in a multi layered way that crosses the political, social and economic layers of society."